I met a star from the "Lost" TV series!

While on my trip to Hawaii, I went to the Honalulu Marathon expo and met Evangeline Lilly, one of the stars of the TV show "Lost." We're big fans of the show, so it was fun to actually meet one of the actors in person. Evangeline Lilly was very nice to talk to. She talked a little about the show with me, and commented on my "Old Rugged Cross" christian t-shirt. (She added 'God Bless' to her picture she signed for me.)

While we were waiting in line for autographs, I moved a little closer to the table to get some more pics:

Since she had been talking for so long, she was putting on some lip balm. She even offered some to the person she was signing for at the time. Pretty funny!

MO ANG Exercise in Hawaii

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it... :O) I was selected to participate in a major exercise at Hickham AFB, Hawaii for a couple weeks in December 2005. My guard unit, the 157 AOG, stayed on base most of the time, but a guy I worked with rented a car and took me with him to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial, as well as North Shore to see some surfing. It was a great trip, and I learned a lot about how we command and direct the air war. Here are some pics from the trip:

This was the view from where I stayed in billeting. Each day, I walked just a short distance to where I worked (in the center hanger in this picture):

The following pictures are from the USS Arizona memorial. It was a couple days before the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was a very somber and emotional tour of the memorial.

One afternoon, we drove up to the North Shore of Oahu to watch a surfing competition. Earlier in the week, a surfer died as a result of the monster waves out there... Maybe I'll try that "next" year. Maybe not...

Visit to the Youngski's house

Continuing on with updating past trips...

While we were in Nebraska, we got to visit the Youngski's beautiful new house in the middle of nowhere. It was great to see them again--seems like a LONG time since we visited them when they were stationed at Scott AFB. As always, they were marvelous hosts and made us feel right at home.



Ryan and Logan even got to try on Jerry's flight helmet and mug for the camera.



Wish they didn't live so far away--they are just like a part of our family. Thanks for the visit!

Thanksgiving 2005

We did the "family road trip" up NORTH for Thanksgiving and had a blast! We actually had to wear coats, too!! Our first stop was at my brother's house to visit. It was great to see him and his family. They've remodeled since our last visit, and their gameroom was awesome. We played foosball,

ate wonderful meals, and even attended a Bear wedding... (You just had to be there!)

We also got to spend time with my sister, who was in from Colorado. We don't get to see her very often, so it was great to see her.

It was very relaxing and we had a great time. It was over way too soon, and once again we were off further north...
We met up with Myetti's folks at her brother's house in Nebraska. Brrrr. It's pretty cold there! :O) Once again, we played,

and ate,

and had another wonderful time. It was a trip we will always remember, and were blessed to have spent it with family.

Where do I begin?

I really need to catch up on current events... Since Thanksgiving, we've been to Missouri, Nebraska, and Hawaii. Over the next few nights, I'll put in a few pics and comments from those events, and try to keep up with more current activities. Here we go!